Save You
by Faceless Charmer
Summary: Even after everything Fai had done, Kurogane had saved him time and time again. Fai had lied, and been mean, and stabbed Sakura, and tried to kill Kurogane. But the ninja saved hi anyway. And Fai finally works up the courage to ask why. KuroFai, MxM, very cute fluff, Major Spoilers.


_This was inspired by a KuroFai amv on Youtube, set to the song, Save You, by Simple Plan. _

_You should check it out!_

**Save You**

The first time Kurogane had saved Fai, the very first time, was in Koryo, when Kurogane had saved him from the ball of acid that was about to dissolve him. Fai hadn't thought it really meant anything, because they'd only really just met recently. He'd just thought to himself, _"Kurogane must really be nicer than he wants us to think._" It just meant that Kurogane cared about human life more than he led on.

The journey had continued, and they'd gotten to know each other a little better. Kurogane was still really annoyed with Fai all of the time though, which was mostly for the best anyway, since he didn't want to get close to anybody.

So, Fai hadn't expected him to save his life again in Outo.

Surrounded by Oni, with no weapon, and no intention of using his magic, Fai had thought, _"Well, maybe this it."_ He hadn't minded the thought. Not really. But, it was a little sad to think of leaving Syaoran, Sakura, Mokona, and yes, Kurogane. But then, Kurogane had saved him again. Sure, later he would have found out that he wouldn't have actually died, but it was really the sentiment that counted.

Kurogane, who had no real reason to, had saved him.

Again.

He'd thought about asking why, but in the end, decided it wasn't important. Surely it was just for the sake of the children, and would have been a massive pain explaining what happened.

The journey after that had been relatively danger free for Fai. There had been times, when all of their lives were put in jeopardy like fighting in the Yasha and Ashura's war,the Piffle race, and at the library in Recort. But there hadn't been any specific time where Kurogane had to go out of his way to rescue Fai from certain death.

But then they'd landed in Tokyo.

Fai knew, at this point, that he and Kurogane were closer than they should have been. Whenever they'd fought at the Castle of the Moon, while in Yama's army, they'd fought back to back, and always made sure the other was safe. During the race in Piffle, they'd remained at each other's sides, up until Fai had been knocked out of the sky. Kurogane had told him again and again that he didn't care about his past, and even though he would get cold and distant whenever his past was brought up, it was ultimately something he wanted, and probably needed to hear.

So he let himself grow closer still. Close enough that he'd used his magic, in Recort, to get them out of there.

In Tokyo, when he was staring down into the water, waiting for Syaoran to come back up, he'd known, that things had taken a turn for the worse. Syaoran was down there, losing a soul. And he had to go down there, and try and help him, because he cared about Syaoran, and didn't want him to become a soulless killing machine.

_If I go down there,_ he had thought, even as he prepared himself for the jump. _I could die. _

He'd thought about everything he'd lose now if he died.

And one of the people he thought about was Kurogane.

But he'd jumped in anyway.

Through the haze around him, after Syaoran had ripped out his eye, he could hear poor, dear little Mokona, who was still above the water, crying, and shouting his name. He'd wanted to say something back to Mokona like, "Don't worry." Or, "Don't cry." Or maybe, "Run." would have been most appropriate, since Syaoran was now the killing machine Fai had been trying to prevent him from becoming.

Then he'd heard, "Kurogane! Syaoran and Fai aren't coming back out of the water!"

And he couldn't help but think, _Good, Kurogane's here._ He still wanted to die, and still wasn't going to stop it from happening, but now, he at least wanted to see Kurogane's face before he went. And besides, maybe Kurogane get this under control.

And then, Kurogane had been there, holding him tightly to him, and screaming at Syaoran, things he couldn't really hear through the haze of pain. Fai was trying to open the eye he had left, so he could see his face, but he just couldn't manage it. He let himself slide into the black abyss around him, thinking this must really, truly, finally be the end.

But then, he'd awoken, on a bed, surrounded by the others, all looking down at him with worry. They were trying to save his life.

And he'd told them to stop.

That had pissed Kurogane off, which surprised him. He knew at this point, that Kurogane cared about him too. But how much did he care? Enough that, minutes later, he'd entered into a contract that would save Fai's life.

_If you want to die that bad, I'll kill you. Until then, stay alive._

Kurogane had saved him again. First, from Syaoran, and then from death.

The pain of the transformation had been the worst physical pain he'd ever felt, but that wasn't even why he was mad. He was mad at Kurogane for choosing to save him. Again.

So, they'd grown apart, and even though it had hurt, Fai let it happen. In fact, he was the reason it was happening at all. It had begun the second he woke up in Tokyo, now a vampire.

_Good morning, Kurogane._

But then, in Infinity, Kurogane had come to his aid once more. After stabbing Sakura, Fai had looked at the sword he'd just used to impale the girl he thought of as a daughter, and decided to kill himself with it. He'd never actively pursued death, just sat back and allowed whatever happen to happen, and didn't fight it when it did. But now, it was too much.

But then, even after the way Fai had treated him, with the nastiest cold shoulder he could manage, Kurogane had still come to him, grabbing the sword and stopping him from ending his own life.

_Don't you dare hurt anyone else with that sword. Not even yourself._

Why was Kurogane still saving him? Why wouldn't he just let him die, and end all the suffering and trouble Fai had brought with him?

And then, in Celes...

Even after discovering that Fai had been an agent of Fei-Wang, the man who had killed Kurogane's parents, the whole time...

Even after discovering that Fai knew about everything, right from the beginning, and hadn't said a thing...

Even after Fai had just been trying to _kill_ him, only minutes before...

Kurogane saved him.

He stabbed Ashura, who had been choking him.

And then, to get Fai out of his own self destructing world, he _cut off his own arm, _almost killing himself. When they got to Japan, and Fai had thought Kurogane was about to die, he should have wanted it to happen. Because now, Fai couldn't live without Kurogane's blood. So if Kurogane died, he would too. But he didn't want that, no matter.

Not Kurogane.

Now, in Clow, after the whole thing was finally over, and Fei-Wang was finally dead and gone, Fai went looking for Kurogane. They were just about to set off on their journey, to try and find a way to get the clones back. Everyone was getting supplies ready, and saying their goodbyes. He passed Syaoran, saying goodbye to Sakura and her family, but moved on, not wanting to disturb.

He found Kurogane standing in the room he'd been sleeping in, staring out the balcony, at the town and sand below them. Fai come up silently beside him, and Kurogane looked at him from the side of his eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked the mage, who nodded.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. What about you, Kuro-rin?"

Kurogane exhaled through his nose, silently telling Fai he disproved of the nickname. But Fai knew that was a lie. He had been able to tell how much it hurt Kurogane, when he'd started calling him by his whole name.

"Yeah. Just waiting for the kid." Kurogane said, not breaking his stare with the outside world.

"Let's give him a minute." Fai looked at Kurogane openly now, and smiled, because now, he couldn't help smiling when he looked at Kurogane. Kurogane saw the smile, of course, and turned his head toward him.

"What?"

"Just looking at Kuro-tan's handsome self puts a smile on my face."

If this had been a long time back, Kurogane would have exploded in anger. But the ninja had changed. Now, he just shook his head, like he was too tired of this tom foolery to even argue with it.

Fai kept his eyes on him, saw his eyes, which were both somehow softer and harder than they had been at the very beginning of this journey. Fai didn't question this, because he knew his eyes must look the same way too. All of their eyes probably did. Even Mokona.

"You've changed, Kuro-sama."

Kurogane looked back at him, now. "You too, mage."

Fai looked away, and now, it was Kurogane looking at him. Fai knew he was watching closely as he stopped smiling, and folded his arms on the balcony, leaning his head on his arms, and staring out the same scenery Kurogane had just been looking at. Kurogane waited for him to talk, knowing it would happen eventually.

"Kuro-sama...why?"

Kurogane lifted an eyebrow. "You're going to have elaborate more than that."

Fai shifted on his feet, and ultimately stood back up straight. "Why did you keep saving me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You kept saving me. Even though you were annoyed with me. Even after I stabbed Sakura. Even after I was so mean. And even after I tried to kill you." Fai's voice got quieter and quieter as he spoke, until he was whispering. "Why?"

It was quiet for a few seconds. In the distance, Fai could hear Mokona, saying goodbye to Touya and Yukito.

Fai waited, and waited, and the longer he waited, the more he was sure Kurogane was about to suddenly throw him off this balcony, and call him an idiot, because a quiet Kurogane could mean an angry Kurogane. But then he peeked at the ninja, and saw that, no, Kurogane wasn't angry. Just deep in thought.

"Kuro...gane?" he asked, trying to get the ninja's attention back to him.

Kurogane didn't say anything, but then, Fai suddenly felt something touch his hand. He looked down, and saw that Kurogane was silently grabbing his hand, and holding it. He looked up in awe, his eyes wide.

"Kurogane...?" it was kind of a breathy exhale of disbelief, and kind of a question.

"Just shut up, Fai."

And Fai, who had never listened before, finally did, shutting his eyes tightly to try and stop tears that suddenly felt like they were going to flood his eyes, and squeezing Kurogane's hand tightly. It was just like the ninja, to make such an important confession silently.

He'd said, _Shut up, Fai._

But Fai knew he meant, _I love you, Fai._

He opened his eyes, and stared out at the scenery before them, holding the strong hand of the man beside him. He never wanted to let go.

"Thank you for saving me, Kurogane." he said, and he meant that too, but what he really meant was, _I love you too, Kurogane._ And by the way Kurogane smiled, he had a feeling he knew.

Fai looked up at the sky, and even though he was still a little sad, (he couldn't not be sad, not with Syaoran and Sakura gone) he smiled.

It was the beginning of a whole new journey.


End file.
